Fired Ilwaco fire chief Jeffrey Archer’s sex trial delayed again
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Jeffrey S. Archer’s trial has been pushed out several months following three separate filings over the past three months waiving speedy trial. Archer was arrested on Jan. 9 after an extensive months-long investigation by the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office.
Archer is the former fire chief of the Ilwaco Fire Department, and was fired by Mayor Eddie Hilliard on Jan. 21 after city officials pondered how to handle the situation.
The paid position at the fire department was an “at-will position,” which allowed Hilliard to terminate his employment “effective immediately.”
Archer is facing 51 felony counts that includes 21 counts of first-degree child molestation, ten counts of first-degree rape of a child, one count of dealing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, one count of first-degree possession of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, four counts of second-degree child molestation, one count of third-degree child molestation, two counts of distributing a controlled substance to a minor, and seven counts of commercial sexual abuse of a child.
If convicted, Archer faces up to life in prison, with any possibility of parole to be determined by an indeterminate board. This board decides whether individuals convicted of serious sex crimes can be safely released back into the community.
Archer’s trial was initially set to start on May 9. That date was struck when he entered a waiver of speedy trial on Feb. 13. The waiver set the last possible day the case could go to trial as May 13, and did not immediately reset the trial dates.
However, on March 13, Archer entered another waiver of speedy trial with the last possible date the case could go to trial as June 30 and set the trial to open on June 15.
The case has now seen a third waiver of speedy trial, which was entered on May 8 and set the last possible day for the case to go to trial as Aug. 29.
According to court documents, Pacific County Superior Court Judge Donald J. Richter set Archer’s new trial dates for Aug. 10-14 along with a pretrial hearing on July 10, and a trial readiness hearing for July 31.
